Rain-alarm



G. C. DUVALL;

RAIN ALARM.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 12. ms.

. Patented Feb. 3,1920.

amzw boz 0, lpua all Quiet a V CHARLES C. DU'VALL, 0F CLEVELAND, OHIO.

RAIN-ALARM.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 3, 1920.

Application filed June 12, 1918. Serial No. 239,546.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, CHARLES COLUMBUS DUVALL, a citizen of the United States, residing at Cleveland, in the county of Guyahoga and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Rain- Alarms; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to improvements in rain alarms, and has for one of its objects the provision of means for catching water when raining and which will complete an electric circuit to an alarm, thus notifying the occupants of a building so that they may close the windows of the building to prevent the rain from injuring the interior thereof.

Another object of this invention is the pro vision of a trough adapted to catch the rain and convey the same into a means having a circuit closing float, which will automatically complete an electric circuit to an alarm rendering the necessar Y warning.

A further object of this invention is the provision of a rain alarm of the above stated character which will be simple, durable and efl icient, and which may be manufactured and sold at a comparatively low cost.

With these and other objects in view, as will become more apparent as the description proceeds, the invention consists in certain novel features of construction, combination and arrangement of parts as will be hereinafter more fully described and claimed.

For a complete understanding of my invention, reference will be had to the following description and accompanying drawing, in which:

Figure l is a side elevation of a rain alarm constructed in accordance with my invention,

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view of the same, and

Fig. 3 is a detail sectional view, taken on the line 33 of Fig. 2.

Referring in detail to the drawing, the numeral 1 indicates a supporting block, which may be secured to the exterior of a building in any well known manner, and has embedded therein a substantially U- shaped reservoir-2, the arms of which are disposed vertically and project beyond the upper face of the supporting block 1. A pipe 3 is connected to the upper end of one of the arms of the substantially U-shaped reservoir 2 and to a trough 4. The trough 4: is of elongated formation, having its bot tom wall inclined downwardly from each end to a point intermediate its end, so that the rain water caught by the trough 4: will be drained directly into the pipe 8 and thence into the reservoir 2. The trough 1 is adapted to be located at any convenient point upon a building, and preferably at the lower edge of the cave of a roof, so that the Water drained from the cave will be caught by the trough and conducted into the reservoir 3.

The other arm of the substantially U- shaped reservoir 2 has slidably mounted therein a float 5, the upper end of which carries a contact 6 normally spaced from a contact arm 7. The contact arm 7 is carried by the block 8 mounted upon the supporting block 1. The contact 6 has connected thereto a conductor 9, which is in turn connected to a switch 10. This switch 10 is adapted to be located within the building, so that the same can be readily opened and closed when desired. The conductor 11 is connected to the switch 10 and to an electric alarm 12, which is in the form of an ordinary electric hell or may be of any other sound producing device. A conductor 13 is connected to the alarm 12 and to a battery or other electrical source 14:. A conductor 15: is connected to the battery or other electrical source 14 and to the contact arm 7, whereby upon the reservoir 2 becoming filled with rain water, or partially so, the float 5 will be raised upwardly, causing the contact 6 to engage the contact arm 7, completing an electrical circuit to the alarm 12.

While I have shown and described the preferred embodiment of my invention, it will be understood that minor changes in construction, combination and arrangement of parts may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as claimed.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

A rain alarm comprising a supporting block, a substantially U-shaped hollow reservoir embedded in the block and having the ends of the arm portions thereof projecting above the top face of the block and said ends being fully open, a funnel connected to the end of one of thearm portions of said reservoir, a contact carried by the block and having its free end disposed over and in spaced relation to the end of the other arm portion of said reservoir and adapted to be connected to an electrical alarm, a cylindrical float mounted for upward and downward movement in the last named arm portion of said reservoir, a contact formed on the upper end of the float and adapted to be connected to the alarm and adapted to limit the downward movement of said float in one 10 direction and to engage the first named contact on upward movement of said float.

In testimony whereof I my signature in presence of two witnesses.

CHARLES C. DUVALL. Witnesses CHARLES M. DUvALL, GAYLE DUVALL. 

